Disney+ to introduce a new subscription pause feature

Disney+ has been making some bold financial moves lately, starting with a price hike in October, following a trend set by many other streaming platforms. Many people thought that was the end of the pain, but then came the news that Disney was ditching App Store payments for Apple users. Naturally, this had some folks thinking about ditching their subscriptions altogether.

But now, it seems Disney might be working on a little something to make you think twice before hitting that cancel button. Wall Street Journal reports that the company plans to roll out an option that lets users pause their subscriptions. This would work much like it does on platforms like Netflix and Hulu, giving you a break without fully committing to cancellation.

Pausing your Disney+ subscription would be like putting your account on hold—Disney keeps all your data, like where you left off in a show and your recommendations, but you won’t be able to access any content until you reactivate. It’s the perfect middle ground for those who want to take a breather from Disney+ but don’t want to lose all their progress.

Of course, Disney might not let you pause forever. Though nothing’s set in stone yet, it's likely that, like Netflix, the pause will be limited to about three months. A study from Antenna shows that 41% of people return within a year after cancelling, so this pause feature could keep users from fully jumping ship—letting them come back when they know they’ll actually use the service, like during the holidays when the extended family is home to watch favourite episodes of Suits.

With all the competition heating up between the big streaming players—Netflix launching its "Moments" feature and Prime Video rolling out an AI summary tool—this pause option could help Disney+ hold onto its 153.6 million subscribers. It’s a clever way to stop people from cancelling altogether, especially after reports that Disney+ lost 4.2 million paid subscribers between March 2023 and March 2024.